Gravity
by sohhkb
Summary: Sunny/Funny Ficathon Entry. Written for CCgwtw. Rhett muses.


"Daddy, watch me! Watch!" Standing on the cushioned bench, Bonnie flapped her arms like a bird and leaped off. Gravity overtook her and she landed on her knees on the floor, but she didn't care. She was excited to be going home. Soon the long train ride would be over, and she would be back in Atlanta with her pony, Mr. Butler. Of course, seeing mother wouldn't be so bad either. She'd missed them both terribly, and so did daddy even though he didn't say it.

"Wonderful, Bonnie. Be careful now," her daddy replied, but he wasn't really watching, Bonnie knew. Something was bothering daddy enormously. Perhaps he'd forgotten to bring mother a present. Mother loved presents.

"Do you think Mr. Butler missed me, Prissy?" She chattered, instead, with her housemaid who'd come along for the long trip. Prissy was sitting on the hard train seat, gripping the bar in front of her hard. Prissy was scared of trains. "We've been gone awful long," noted Bonnie.

_Awfully long,_ mused Rhett in agreement. How many weeks had it been since he'd last laid his eyes on Scarlett? It felt like years. Likewise, his turbulent relationship with Scarlett since the day she threw the vase over his head felt like an eternity. An eternity of pride, passion, and helplessness- the latter emotion belonged to Rhett alone.

He had been helpless to her charms that first day he'd held her in his arms around the dance floor. Helpless to her determination that day she came to him at the jail. Helpless to her indifference the day he'd brought her his lover's gift of yellow silk, and she turned around and presented it to Ashley Wilkes. And today, on the way home from his extended trip with Bonnie, he felt just plain helpless. Helplessly, desperately in love with this prideful, passionate woman who couldn't, or wouldn't, love him back.

He'd left the house with Bonnie with the intent to never come back, figuratively speaking. His own recent actions in combination with the always unbearable elephant in the room had convinced him that he was finally ready to move on from Scarlett. She'd argued with him when he informed her of this, naturally, but she gave no indication to that his leaving would effect her in any way other than being the subject of city gossip (but wasn't she always?) Yes, a divorce was what he wanted, and what he was going to get, even if he had to trick (or force) her into doing it. His love and devotion for her was only a distant memory.

So what had changed in a matter of weeks (months, years, he couldn't be sure)? The answer was clutched in his hand; a small strip of hotel stationery in New Orleans, bent and tattered from its four-year lifetime. The simple note was jotted down in his own slanted scrawl. On the paper, all he'd written was, "In case you forget."

When Bonnie had told him she'd wanted to go home to her mother, Rhett sighed, having known it was inevitable. With reluctance he began packing their things to return to Atlanta, dreading the impending contact with Scarlett- He hated her, he could honestly admit, because she couldn't see they needed and belonged with each other.

It was there, at the very bottom of the same suitcase he'd used for his honeymoon, that he found the slip of paper that thrust him so quickly back into his wife's figurative arms. In a moment of spontaneity after their first breathtaking lovemaking experience, he'd watched her sleeping form and hoped desperately to never fall out of love, to never forget these quiet moments of watching her sleep trustingly in his presence. He went to the desk, tore a sheet of stationery from the complimentary stack, and written simply beneath the printed address, "in case you forget."

Yes, he had forgotten that he had waited his whole lifetime for someone like Scarlett- someone who challenged his ideas and demanded his attention and ignited his passion every day of his life. She was like gravity, always pulling him back towards her no matter how hard he tried to escape. She, too, could not seem to escape him. Wherever they were they were drawn to each other like magnets- a pair of fighting, childlike, bull-headed magnets.

But what would he say to her as they came through the door? He could lie to her, tell her Bonnie was the only reason he was back. He could tell her the truth and fall to his knees in front of her, begging to be taken back. She wouldn't believe him, even though it was the truth. He'd been mean to her, and angry with her for never returning his love. She would think he was only teasing her.

He realized finally, sitting on the train home, that he hadn't given her a true chance to love him back. He'd only assumed the worst of her- that she wanted Ashley instead of him, that she married him merely for his money. Perhaps they weren't true. Perhaps she continued to fawn over Ashley because he wasn't giving her what she truly wanted. Perhaps she vexed over money because she felt she helpless and unsupportive. Of course, there was always the chance that she simply was an evil wench who cared nothing for him, but Rhett let that thought slip past him unheard.

He knew what he would do. He'd buy her a big bouquet of those peach colored roses she loved and woo her like the beaus of her past did. He'd take her out dancing and hold her close. He'd kill Ashley with a shotgun…

Rhett was wrenched out of his reverie by the shrieks of Bonnie and Prissy as the metal car they rode in tipped and swayed. He had time to pull Bonnie into his embrace before metal crunched against metal. Rhett closed his eyes, waited for gravity, and saw scarlet.

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Rhett groaned and opened swollen eyes. He felt like he'd been hit by a train. He tried to move his arms and legs but felt like they were being weighed down by something…

"Bonnie!" He suddenly felt very awake and in pain. A cool hand was at his forehead instantly.

"It's alright, Captain Butler. Bonnie is fine- just a few scrapes and bruises. She's in the children's ward, " the soft voice of Melanie Wilkes calmed him- until he looked down at his body.

"Both of your arms and a leg have been broken, Captain Butler. Don't fret, dear. You're lucky to be alive!"

"Water," he croaked, feeling as if there were cotton in his mouth.

"Oh, of course! How silly of me!" Cool water was instantly at his lips, and he slurped gratefully. "Are you in very much pain? I'll bring the doctor and your wife-"

"No!" he interrupted, startling Melly and himself with the ferocity of his tone. Melly clutched at the handkerchief in her hands.

"Is there something wrong, Captain Butler?" she questioned. Rhett shifted on his bed, groaning in pain as he moved his limbs.

"No, nothing's wrong- I just- I'm not quite ready to see her yet," he confessed. Melly's kind eyes widened in understanding and she returned to her perch beside his bed.

"It's because of the quarrel the two of you had before you went away, isn't it?"

"You know about that?" he was surprised. Scarlett would never confide in Melly about anything, much less marital issues!

A little embarrassed, Melanie shifted, pausing to choose her words carefully.

"Well, Captain Butler, when you were identified as a passenger in the train that derailed nobody was sure that you and Bonnie had survived. Naturally, Scarlett was grieving. She told me about your last conversation because she desperately wanted to take it back."

"She wanted to take it back," Rhett repeated dumbly. "You're saying she doesn't hate me." Melly laughed softly, reaching out a hand to grasp his casted arm.

"Your wife loves you, Captain Butler. More than she can say. Why, she was so upset that Doctor Mead was worried that the baby- " She paused for a moment, looking stricken, "-well, there is no need to worry."

"The baby?" questioned Rhett. "You mean Bonnie?" Melly's face suddenly paled, and she jerked her hand from Rhett's arm.

"Oh dear," she whispered. "Oh no. I've said too much." She stood and shuffled around the room, straightening the bible on the bedside table and the bedside lamp. "I'd better go get the doctor." And she fluttered out of the room, leaving Rhett puzzled and pained in his bed.

Very suddenly, it came to him. That last night they'd spent together. His carelessness. The baby.

A baby!

He no longer felt in pain. In fact, his heart was soaring out of his bandaged chest! He laughed out loud to himself and wriggled his good foot in glee. The fact that he had two broken arms and broken leg was only a problem because he couldn't sweep his wife into the air when he saw her.

"You're awake," came a shaken voice from the doorway of his room. He turned his head too quickly and felt his neck pop painfully. There she stood, wearing a grey dress so dark it came close to mourning black. She was wringing a handkerchief between her hands. The sunlight glinted off of her giant engagement ring and cast glittery rainbows on the white walls. Her eyes, bloodshot and yet still bright green, bore into his as if searching for something.

"My darling," he said to her, hoping to convey to her the seriousness he felt, "I have to tell you- it can't wait another moment-

"I am in love with you, and I always have been. I never again want to be apart from you. I don't care if I have to shoot Ashley dead. I'll do it too- as soon as I've healed. I'm sorry I've waited so long to tell you. I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to love me back. You and I were made for one another, Scarlett. I can't get away from you." Breathless from his speech and the adrenaline, Rhett watched his wife's posture change very slightly.

"Are you sure you aren't delirious?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm very sure."

"And this turnaround didn't come to you because of your near death experience, did it?"

"I discovered this all before I had any knowledge that I was about to nearly die." He watched her face anxiously, waiting for her reply.

Slowly, Scarlett offered Rhett her dazzling smile.

The End.

Written for CCgwtw:  
Quote: On the paper, all he'd written was, "In case you forget." The Horse Whisperer , by Nicholas Evans.  
Other Requirements: Rhett's POV and 1872.

Loved the quote, wished I could have used it in a better way but the only stories it inspired was very sad, un-sunny stories (not that this one was a heap of fun). I had no idea what really happened in 1872 so I kind of guessed it was around the time of the fall down the staircase. This ficathon was really challenging for me. I'm not really happy with the end result, but it definitely forced me to think outside the box. Thanks again to CCgwtw for the awesome, relevant quote. I only hope it was a little like you imagined it to be.

P.S. It was meant to end right when the train crashed (which is why the middle is so long and boring- I had to make it to 1000 words) but then I realized that I would have totally failed the ficathon challenge.


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